Radical Futures
Opening reception Thursday, Jan. 22, 5-7 p.m.
A new exhibition at Holyoke Community College’s Taber Art Gallery asks visitors to imagine a future Pioneer Valley, 100 years after the fall of capitalism.
“River Valley Radical Futures” opens Tuesday, Jan. 20, and runs until Thursday, March 12. The gallery will host an opening reception on Thursday, Jan. 22, from 5-7 p.m. and a closing talk from project lead and curator Alix Gerber on Thursday, March 12, from 5-7 p.m.
The show features the work of eight area artists and has its origins in the Making Radical Futures Lab at Smith College in Northampton. Gerber is a post-doc fellow and associate director of Smith’s Design Thinking Initiative.
“The lab uses participatory and speculative design practices to explore collaborative ways of imagining futures without capitalism,” Gerber said in a statement about the show. “Worker co-operatives, mutual aid networks, and other community groups came together through a series of workshops throughout the Pioneer Valley to imagine how their values and current work might lead to future, alternative economic systems.”
Those sessions led to the creation of an illustrated map of the Connecticut River Valley 100 years beyond the fall of capitalism.
In “River Valley Radical Futures,” the map is brought to life by paintings and sculptures and other artwork – “artifacts excavated from the future we imagined,” says Gerber.
Gallery visitors will see body extensions and creature masks, cow brushes and bells made from local materials, a floating house design, a tool sharing station, a secret-baring mural, a flood system made from local clay, and an apothecary, among other pieces.
The exhibition includes the work of artists Sunny Allis, David von Dufving, Andrea Hairston, Mary Kate Cleary, Bo Kim, Sharon Leshner (a.k.a. Sharona Color), Michael Madeiros, and Laura Torraco.
“This is an exciting project that opens up the art-making process from what is usually a single artist materializing their thoughts alone in the studio into a collaborative effort between artists, educators, community workers, facilitators and organizers,” said gallery director Rachel Rushing. “By collaborating across disciplines and experiences the workshop participants were able to imagine the kind of future their work could make possible.”
“When visiting the Taber, you’ll see artwork that has begun the process of bringing those ideas to life,” Rushing said. “Imagination is at the core of this exhibition, and I hope visitors will be inspired and energized to continue imagining what kind of future we all hope to create, together.”
The Taber Art Gallery, located off the lobby of the HCC Library on the second floor of the HCC Donahue Building, is free and open to the public Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during regular school sessions.
PHOTO: Artist Michael Madeiros, of Greenfield, sets up his contribution to the "River Valley Radical Futures" exhibit at Holyoke Community College.
